The King's Speech

The Oscars paid royal tribute to The King's Speech, honoring the drama about King George VI as Best Picture and shining gold upon its Best Actor Colin Firth, Director Tom Hooper and Screenplay writer David Seidler.

"I have a feeling my career's just peaked," Firth said on the stage of Hollywood's Kodak Theatre Sunday night, at the 83rd annual Academy Awards.

The British actor was so excited he admitted to "experiencing stirrings … in the abdominal region that are threatening to turn themselves into dance moves."

Natalie Portman, as the troubled dancer in Black Swan, was named Best Actress. "This is insane," she said in her speech. "I truly, sincerely wish the prize tonight was to work with my fellow nominees. I am in such awe of you."

There was no hesitation when it came to The King's Speech at Sunday night's British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards – the BAFTAs.

The popular drama about King George VI's seemingly insurmountable stammer swept the ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden, with seven awards.

These included those for Best Picture, Actor Colin Firth, Supporting Actor Geoffrey Rush, Supporting Actress Helena Bonham Carter and Original Screenplay writer David Seidler.

For Firth, it was a back-to-back victory. He also won last year for A Single Man, about a gay man mourning his late lover. "I like coming here," the Oscar frontrunner told the Bafta crowd, eliciting a laugh. He also paid tribute to his beautiful Italian wife Livia Guiggioli, saying, "I would like to thank Livia and the whole family for remaining so steady, whether they are dealing with a dancing queen or a sometime king."

Colin Firth has learned one major consequence of being an Oscar front-runner – that talking about how you're feeling becomes a full-time job.

"One does get asked quite regularly how one feels, and of course it does change throughout the day. I feel obliged to take my temperature or something," the actor, 50, joked Monday at the annual luncheon for Oscar nominees in Beverly Hills.

On top of all its Oscar nominations, The King's Speech now has the Queen's seal of approval.

Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed a private screening of The King's Speech and was "moved" by the film, according to its producers, the Weinstein Company.

The film tells the emotional story of Her Majesty's father, King George VI, as he struggles to overcome his debilitating stutter.

"Thirty years ago, the Queen Mother asked me to wait and not tell this story during her lifetime because the memory of these events was still too painful," says screenwriter David Seidler in a statement.

The British actor, 50, who won the Golden Globe for best actor in The King's Speech this weekend, has been nominated in the same category for Britain's BAFTA Film Awards – with the film itself gaining the most nods, 14, among all contenders.

Black Swan is the next most-honored film, with its star Natalie Portman, another Globe winner, nominated for best actress.

He's played by Colin Firth in the new film The King's Speech, but what was King George VI – Prince William and Harry's great-grandfather – really like?

Terrifically shy, for one, thanks in a large part to the crippling speech impairment depicted in the film.

Unlike William, the former Prince Albert had no expectation of being King, becoming so only after his brother Edward VIII abdicated in 1936. He helped guide his country through World War II as a trusted advisor to Winston Churchill and a beloved symbol of Nazi resistance to the British people.